Sorted by date Results 2867 - 2891 of 7954
Five people attended a meeting for the Wrangell community garden last Wednesday, three in person and two via phone, along with project leaders Valerie Massie and Kim Wickman. The meeting was held to begin selecting committee members and discuss an action plan. According to Massie, the Wrangell Cooperative Association IGAP coordinator, Grace Wintermyer volunteered to be the primary treasurer and Sage Smiley volunteered for the secretary position. “We also reviewed a draft garden bed subscription template,” Massie said. Changes to the subscriptio...
Closed schools and mitigation protocols have complicated recruitment for the U.S. Coast Guard over the two years of the pandemic, officers said. “We are definitely, in comparison to pre-COVID numbers, we are not doing as well,” said Cmdr. Andrea Smith, executive officer of nationwide Coast Guard Recruiting Command. “Meeting a Coastie is still the best recruiting tool for us, and that is increasingly difficult because of the pandemic,” Smith said in a phone interview. The problem is exacerbated in Alaska, said Chief Petty Officer Colin Rankin,...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The hotel that has served for nearly three decades as the Anchorage-based headquarters for the world’s most famous sled dog race will end its association with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race next year. The Lakefront Anchorage Hotel will still be race headquarters for this year’s race and then step away, hotel manager John Bruce and Iditarod Trail Committee Chief Operations Officer Chas St. George told the Anchorage Daily News. The hotel’s owners, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, announced the change in a statement Feb. 9, a da...
The state is accusing the owners of an Anchorage souvenir-making business of consumer fraud, saying in documents filed with Anchorage Superior Court that their “Made in Alaska” products are actually made in the Philippines. Robert Merry, Josephine Merry, Mary Uy and Mark Uy, owners of B. Merry Studio, are facing a civil lawsuit from the state, which is seeking restitution, $25,000 per violation of the state’s consumer protection law, attorney fees, punitive damages, and an order that they stop using the “Made in Alaska” label. B. Merry Stu...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District said it is investigating allegations of racist behavior during a high school basketball game, where some students dressed in Western attire, such as cowboy hats, as their boys basketball team played at home against Metlakatla. Latonya Galles, whose son plays for the Metlakatla Chiefs, told Anchorage television station KTUU the way fans of the Ketchikan High School Kings were dressed was inappropriate. “It was just really, really bad, and racism was definitely present,” said Galle...
The families are on a streak. Evi Fennimore hasn’t missed a game all season, and the Nevada high school basketball team where two of her grandchildren play hasn’t lost a game so far all season. Jake Penney, a senior, and Nate Penney, a junior, are on the starting five at Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, Nevada, where they live with their parents Kyle Penney and Katie Fennimore Penney. Their mom is the daughter of Evi and the late Ron Fennimore, of Wrangell. Kyle Penney is the team coach. The Spanish Springs high school squad is the No....
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge said Monday he will dismiss a libel lawsuit that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin filed against The New York Times, claiming the newspaper damaged her reputation with a 2017 editorial falsely linking her campaign rhetoric to a mass shooting. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff made the ruling with the jury still deliberating in the New York City trial where the former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate testified last week. The judge said Palin had failed to show that The Times had acted out of malice, something r...
Business owners who qualify under certain IRS guidelines and want to help the community can skip a step when it comes to how they make donations. A change to the tax code a few years ago makes it possible for a business to donate items to a recipient without first moving it through a nonprofit organization. “After The Salvation Army combed through a lot of IRS stuff, what we discovered is we no longer have to take full possession of something before we can give it,” said Lt. Jon Tollerud, who runs the Wrangell Salvation Army. “Which is a very...
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii Gov. David Ige said the Safe Travels Hawai’i program will remain unchanged at this time and booster shots will not be needed to satisfy the up-to-date vaccination status required for individuals traveling to the state. The Safe Travels Program will still require travelers to show proof of their vaccination status so they may avoid testing or bypass quarantine requirements when they arrive in Hawaii. “In making this decision, we considered declining COVID-19 case counts in Hawaii, the continental U.S. and Europe,“ Ige sai...
JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski ended the year with almost seven times the cash on hand as her chief Republican rival, Kelly Tshibaka, filings with the Federal Election Commission show. Murkowski, who made official in November plans to seek reelection, reported bringing in nearly $1.4 million during the last quarter of the year and ending 2021 with about $4.3 million available. Tshibaka, who announced her plans to run last March, reported bringing in nearly $602,000 in the past quarter and ending the year with about $634,000 on h...
JUNEAU (AP) — A Democratic state legislator has announced her bid for Alaska’s U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Lisa Murkowski. State Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, a former Anchorage assembly member in her first term in the state Legislature, filed candidacy papers with the Alaska Division of Elections in Juneau on Feb. 10. Gray-Jackson is the first Democrat to join a field of contenders that also includes Republican Kelly Tshibaka, who is supported by former President Donald Trump. Murkowski is seeking reelection. She has held the office sin...
A bill overhauling Alaska’s alcohol laws passed out of the Senate without opposition on Feb. 8, heading to the House where amendments are expected. The bill creates new license types for businesses that sell alcohol such as breweries and wineries and extends the activities those businesses can engage in. Tasting rooms at breweries and distilleries could, if the bill passes, stay open two hours later, closing at 10 p.m., and the businesses could hold classes or fundraising events. Senate Bill 9 is the result of nine years of effort by S...
WILLIAMS LAKE, British Columbia (AP) — A First Nation in Canada says a preliminary geophysical investigation has identified 93 possible burial sites around the site of a church-run boarding school. Chief Willie Sellars of the Williams Lake First Nation said Jan. 25 that excavation would be needed to confirm the presence of human remains and much more work is needed to make final determinations. From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 Indigenous children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools as an e...
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The descendants of Native American tribes on the Northern California coast are reclaiming a bit of their heritage that includes ancient redwoods which have stood since their ancestors walked the land. Save the Redwoods League announced Jan. 25 that it is transferring more than 500 acres on the Lost Coast to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council. The group of 10 tribes that have inhabited the area for thousands of years will be responsible for protecting the land called...
After not having a state Office of Children’s Services caseworker in town for more than a decade, Wrangell could have a staffer here by spring. The Legislature last year added funding for the position to the budget and, unlike 2020, Gov. Mike Dunleavy did not veto the money for the Wrangell caseworker. The borough helped the deal last year by offering to pick up half of the expenses for the staff position, along with donating office space. The borough offered the same deal in 2020 when the governor vetoed the spending along with other a...
An Alaska state ferry hasn’t stopped in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, since fall 2019, but officials “remain hopeful” they can add back the Canadian port to Southeast Alaska runs on May 1. “The Alaska Marine Highway System continues to work closely with both U.S. and Canadian customs regarding a return to service in Prince Rupert,” Sam Dapcevich, state Transportation Department spokesman, said in a Feb. 1 email. The department and ferry system management “have multiple tasks to complete before we will be approved to re-commence service,” t...
With a little digging and hard work, Wrangell High School students have unearthed a grant to help grow a project. Junior Rylee Chelette and sophomore Mia Wiederspohn used their grant-writing skills and were awarded funds to help special education teacher Ann Hilburn launch a life-skills project that revolves around starting an indoor garden and incorporating activity, science, math, planning and running a business. “(Basic) things that … our children learn, seems to be by osmosis, but for (the special education students) it has to be han...
Many may not know they can be taxed on their Permanent Fund dividend income. They may also not know their children can be taxed on theirs. Those are just a couple of the items that most people might not be aware of as they prepare to file their taxes for 2021. Thanks to AARP and a couple of local volunteers, Wrangell taxpayers need not worry. Every Saturday from now until April 15, Paula Rak and Nancy McQueen will be preparing taxes for those who wish to take advantage of the free service. Though they help everyone they can, Rak said there are...
Tokyo Summer Olympics swim team gold medalist Lydia Jacoby, a 17-year-old Seward High School senior, was in Sitka last month, sharing stories, offering advice - and talking about her goggles. She also talked of criticism directed at her on social media and mental health. "During the mixed-medley (relay) my goggles fell off my face and were in my mouth," she said. "I couldn't breathe for the whole race, and that's something that you think once you get to the Olympics you'll kind of be past that,...
A proposed rule change by the Federal Subsistence Board would allow for the harvest of an additional 20 moose in state Game Management Unit 3 on Kuiu and Kupreanof islands north of Wrangell. One group thinks it’s a bad idea. The Wrangell Fish and Game Advisory Committee sent a letter to the subsistence board in January opposing the change because “taking more bulls from the herd by drawing could be counterproductive to the intent of this proposal.” According to Frank Robbins, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in P...
The port and harbors department will purchase and install cashless meters that accept credit cards at dock hoists in Wrangell that will allow people to use them around-the-clock. The department is buying four credit card readers at a total cost of $11,000 from El Dorado, Arkansas-based manufacturer IDX, and will work with electricians in Wrangell for installation, Port Director Steve Miller said Friday. Two will be installed at Reliance Harbor in front of the harbor master office, one in the boatyard at the Marine Service Center and one at...
The initial draft budget for the next school year shows a $370,000 deficit, which the school board will work to resolve over the next couple of months. The board met in a work session on Monday to review the draft, and will take public comment on the spending plan for the 2022-2023 school year in a Zoom meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. More board sessions will follow, as the school district works to match revenues and expenditures, or draw down on its reserves, while deciding on staffing levels and programs. “Input from the public h...
The fire department is continuing to hand out free, at-home COVID-19 test kits as the community’s level of new cases declines after a record-breaking January. Starting Dec. 30 and continuing through Jan. 30, the borough reported 185 cases in the community, the worst outbreak by far of the pandemic. Since then, the borough has reported 13 new infections, including six reported on Monday evening. As of Monday, the fire department still had 325 test kits, said Capt. Dorianne Sprehe. A shipment of an additional 242 boxes is on the way from the s...
The first sentence was incomplete in the Feb. 2 Sentinel news report on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s lawsuit against The York Times. The first sentence should have read: “Unvaccinated former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 24, forcing postponement of the trial in her libel lawsuit against The New York Times....
For the third year in a row, lawmakers are considering legislation that would impose a tax on e-cigarettes, such as vaping devices, intended to make it more expensive and harder on young people to buy the products. “This bill is about protecting our children from becoming addicted to nicotine,” the bill’s sponsor, Kodiak Sen. Gary Stevens, said in presenting his legislation to the Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 2. In addition to imposing a tax on vaping devices and liquids and other e-cigarette products, the bill, if approved by legislators a...
